Customer Service - Rubina Tandoori

This is the story of a man who had a knack to make dinner at his restaurant memorable - Shafeen Jamal.

His family owned a restaurant in Vancouver called Rubina Tandoori - or simply, The Rubina - on Kingsway just west of Victoria, on the south side of the road. My wife and I accidentally fell upon this restaurant one evening in 1994 or 1995. We were on our way home after a long day at work and we were hungry. We didn't know too many restaurants on Kingsway and, when we saw the red neon sign for Rubina,  we parked and decided to give it a go.

Many Indian restaurants in Vancouver are very plain looking from the out and inside.  As we entered The Rubina we wondered whether we had made a mistake.  Luckily, we were immediately greeted and the point of no return had been passed.  Walking out now was not an option.  We hesitatingly walked in and were seated in the dimly lit dining room at the back of the restaurant.

Sitar-heavy tunes and fragrances from the kitchen filled the room. We were greeted by our waiter and ordered our food. Gosh was it good. Ever since I have described Indian food as an orgy for one's mouth. Our dishes contained so many distinct tastes, all better than the next. From the naan through to the chai the meal was fantastic and we told ourselves we had discovered a real gem. Rogan josh, tikka, malai kofta, wada, saag.  My mouth is watering.  It turns out that we were not the only ones to have unearthed this gem. While it was open, it was consistently rated the top Indian restaurant in the city by many critics.

What made it special to me was not only the food, which was the primary motivator, but the service and attention. It was not pretentious. It was attentive. When you arrived at The Rubina you were welcomed into the family. Shafeen would remember what you had eaten the last time, the second to last time, the third to last time. He would remember how long it had been and who had accompanied you and what you had drunk. After a while he knew our tastes and would make spot-on recommendations based on our history.  Shafeen had great stories, spent just the right amount of time with guests (ie. not so much as to destroy the night out) and was always pleased to see us.

So, yes the food was good (we bought his mum's, Krishna's, cookbook), but in the end, it was the service that had us going back time after time.  They provided a great lesson to all business.  Every experience counts.  Every moment with a customer counts.  Be open, frank and authentic with your customers.  Make it real.

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!